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In Rainsville, Ala., 20,000 Meals a Day and Showers

RAINSVILLE, Ala.–Emergency relief started to roll into northeast Alabama on Friday, after DeKalb County officials estimated that 32 people died and about 200 were injured from the storms this week.

At the Broadway Baptist Church here, out-of-town volunteers from the Alabama Baptist State Convention were setting up a large tent in the parking lot to serve up to 20,000 meals a day. The Baptists also brought a trailer equipped with showers.

A Salvation Army food truck was dispatched to deliver ham sandwiches and bottled water to residents whose electricity remains out.

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Though local residents had been complaining about not receiving assistance, several churches housed survivors and delivered food, said Christy Hardin, deputy director of the DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency.

And more help is on the way, she said. FEMA trucks, with ready-to-eat meals and bottled water, among other resources, should arrive tonight, she said, when relief efforts will be at “full force.”

“The first couple of days are chaotic,” she said, adding the immediate response is focused on finding survivors and recovering bodies. Even if volunteers were on-site for the first 30 hours, trees and other debris were blocking the main roads, she said. Some side roads remain blocked, she said.

The situation is “too big to fix right now,” she said, holding a sandwich and a bottle of water Friday afternoon. “It’s going to take time.” She suggested families give themselves a year to get back to normal.

FEMA will have two disaster recovery centers in the county, where residents can apply for federal assistance and learn how to get support for hotel rooms or small business loans.